The case at Endo inn
by secret sound
Summary: Kotone, a little girl, is possessing people at Endo inn. The owners hire SPR. This case will be... Interesting to say the least. (I suck at summaries... Just read it, I promise you'll like it. And if you don't like it you can yell at me later.)
1. Chapter 1

_I thought you loved me... _

_Why did you do it? Why?_

_I forgive you, I still love you, daddy_...

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Mai Taniyama walked through the office door of Shibuya Psychic Research. "It is really hot out there, I thought the weather people said it was supposed to cool down by now!" She started babbling as soon as she sat down her bag. "You're late." The sweet soothing voice of her boss, Kazuya Shibuya (better known by his nickname, Naru), floated through the room. "Sorry, but one of my old friends called and I haven't seen them in forev-" She didn't get to finish because Naru cut her off. "What you do outside of work doesn't interest me, I need tea." Mai sighed, and was about to answer when she noticed there were three silhouettes from behind the paper wall. 'Oh! He's with a client!' She thought before going off to make his tea. As it brewed, Mai tried to listen to what the three were discussing, but all she heard were quiet murmurs. When it was done she quickly brought it to her boss.

When Mai turned the corner she found Naru talking with two othe people, two men; one had a slightly chubby figure and seemed to be in his mid to late fifties, the other man seemed to be the elder man's son and couldn't have been much older than Takigawa. "Here you go." She said and handed Naru the the tea. "Oh I'm sorry, would you two like some too?" She asked, now addressing the two men. The younger man smiled. "Oh, no thank you." He said sincerely. The other man shook his head no. Once again the younger man spoke. "My name is Toshi Endo, and this is my father, Yori." He introduced. Again, Yori nodded. Mai just smiled back and responded, "My name's Mai Taniyama." Toshi smiled. "It's nice to meet you Mai." Mai thought for a moment. "Wait, Endo, you mean like from the Endo inn? The one that sits by the lake outside of town?" She asked curiously. Toshi nodded. "That's the one!" Mai was about to say more, but Naru cleared his throat.

"The Endo's and I were discussing a possible case." He said blankly, trying to get the appointment back on track. Mai sighed before walking over and standing next to Naru, getting the hint that was men to tell her to be quiet.

"Oh, I'm sorry for getting distracted." Toshi said.

"Would you mind telling me why you think you're inn is haunted?"

"Of course." The young man nodded, then looked over to his father expectantly. Mai was surprised when he was the one to speak.

"About twenty years ago," Yori began, his voice was gravelly and he sounded as if he was very tired. "A man named Shigeo Kochi and his wife, Azumi, showed up at our Inn and begged us for a room. They didn't have much money, but Azumi was pregnant and needed to rest before going to the hospital the next day. At the time, my wife, Emi, was also pregnant with my son here. Both Azumi and Emi gave birth that night, almost at the same time, it was almost like fate." The old man smiled, remembering the birth of his son.

"Azumi gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, and named her Kotone." Mai inturrupted, "Kotone, doesn't that name translate to 'harp sound'?" She asked. Yori nodded. "Kotone didn't cry much, not even when she was born, but when she did, Azumi said the sound was as beautiful as a harp." Noru glared up at Mai, almost as if saying, 'don't interrupt again'. "Please continue."

"We became good friends with the Kochi's, and let them live at our inn at a reduced rate. By the time Kotone and my son were three, they were both best friends. Not a day would go by when you couldn't hear them running up and down the hallway, laughing without a care in the world..."

"Like my father said, Kotone didn't talk much, but sometimes we would whisper secrets to each other, and then we would laugh all day because no one except us knew our secrets." Toshi said. He was smiling, but it was a sad smile. "Even when she whisperd and laughed, it was still as beautiful as a harp."

Yori continued. "When Kotone turned seven, her mother got sick. It wasn't bad at first, but over the course of a year it got worse and she became bedridden. Two months after Kotone turned eight, Azumi passed away." Mai frowned, the happy story was beginning to get sad...

"Shigeo and Kotone, and my family, were devastated. Shigeo handled it the best he could, but his mental state quickly deteriorated and he became severely depressed."

"Kotone did too." Toshi added. "She didn't laugh as much, and she didn't play much either."

"After about six more months, Shigeo finally snapped." Yori began again. "He planned a murder suicide." You could tell by the way Yori spoke that he was on the edge if tears; if they were out if anger or sadness, Mai couldn't tell.

"One night he gave Kotone half a bottle of sleeping pills and waited by her side until she got very drowsy. Then, when she was barely conscious, Shigeo carried his daughter out to the balcony of their room, which is on the second story, and threw her into the lake." Mai gasped.

Toshi, surprisingly was the first one to let tears fall. "She probably would of survived if... If she wasn't so drowsy from the sleeping pills he gave her." Toshi was now speaking more out of anger than sadness. Yori put a hand on his son's shoulder, Toshi slowly calmed down.

"How do you know this?" Noru asked. "You said Shigeo had planned a murder suicide, so how do you know all this happened?" Mai nudged her boss a little with her elbow, because the why he talked sounded a bit insensitive.

"Shigeo had planned to jump into the water after his daughter. But my my brother and I had come up to check on him, and pulled him off the edge of the balcony before he could. He told us everything... He also said that as he carried Kotone to the balcony, that she was still slightly awake. He said that she kept looking at him, and smiling. But when he let her go over the edge... She was crying." Yori was frowning and nearly crying by this time. "They took him to prison, but he was only there for two days before he hung himself... That day the possessions started."

Noru looked up from writing notes. "Possessions?" He asked, meaning for Yori to explain.

"Yes." Toshi answered for his father. "We think its Kotone who is possessing our guests."

Mai sighed. She hated it when it was the children that were the ones suffering. They were so innocent, usually they were just looking for answers, or waiting. Her mind went to a similar case from not too long ago, the one that happened at Christmas and involved a boy named Kenji. He had possessed her, all he wanted was to be found.

"Why do you think it is Kotone who possesses your guests? What happens?" Naru asked, snapping Mai away from her daydream.

"Usually it is children or young women who get possessed." Toshi said. "When it happens, they go to sleep at night and wake up hugging either their father, if he is there with them, or another male older than them. The male that the wake up next to always says that the possessed person appeared next to them almost out of nowhere. The person usually stays possessed all day and is very clingy to all older males. They don't really talk, the only thing they usually say is; 'why', 'I forgive you' or 'I still love you." Naru scribbled everything down very quickly.

"We think Kotone is trying to tell these things to her father." Yori said. "By the end of the day Kotone will leave the person, unless..." Naru looked at Yori with a blank face. "Unless what, ?" He asked. Yori waved his hand. "Never mind." Naru was about to press him for an answer before he looked over at Toshi.

"What about you, Toshi?" He asked. Toshi looked up, confused.

"What about me?" He asked back.

"Your father said that you and Kotone were best friends, surely whenever a person is possessed by her, if this is in fact true, they react rather significantly."

Toshi nodded. "If the possessed person sees me, they tend to stay possessed longer. They will also try to play a few games with me, the same games Kotone and I used to play when we were younger. That's why I try to stay away from the inn if my father says someone is possessed. I like to feel like Kotone is back alive... But it's not fair to the possessed person. "

Naru looked back down at his notes. "I see..." He mumbled and wrote it down.

"I'm afraid that, if this continues, someone else will end up like Kotone." Yori finished.

Naru closed his note book and put it on his desk. "I will take your case."

"Thank you!" Yori and Toshi said greatfully.

"Mr. Endo, if you don't mind, I'd like to bring a few of my colleges in on this case. We will also need a room to set up for base and for sleeping quarters. If it is alright with you, I would like to know if we could use the Kochi's old room." Naru stated more than asked.

"Of course, of course!" Yori said. "No one is staying in the room, I will have a few of my staff set it up for you."

Toshi and Yori turned to leave but each gave Naru and Mai one last thank you before exiting though the door.

"Mai." Naru said when the two men were gone. "Yes Naru?" She asked. "Call the others and tell them about the case. We will be leaving for the Endo inn tomorrow."

"Ok." Mai said. But as she turned Naru looked at her. "But before you do that, I need more tea." Mai growled at him. "I swear, Naru! One day I won't be here to get you your stupid tea!" She yelled before grabbing his cup an going to the kitchen.

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((Hope you enjoyed. Please leave a review))


	2. Chapter 2

_You have to forgive... _

_Forgive him..._

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Mai's POV

The next day we left for the Endo inn. The trip was long and boring. As usual, both Naru and Lin refused to talk. I tried to get Lin to turn on the radio, but he just said that it would distract him from driving. I didn't argue because Lin's word, much like Naru's, was law.

When we got there, after what seemed like an eternity, everyone was waiting for us outside.

"Yay Mai's here!" Monk yelled and ran over to give me a crushing hug. "Monk... I... I can't... Breath..." I muttered into his shirt. "I know, but I haven't seen you in so long!" He whined.

He finally released me when Ayako hit him in the head. "You saw her two days ago! Stupid monk..." Of course that set them off and the two began bickering once again.

I was next greeted by John Brown, a priest from Australia, and Masako, a famous medium.

"Hello mates!" John said brightly. I smiled, the blond man was just so awesome to be around because he was so nice. "Hey John." I greeted in an equally cheery tone.

"Hello Mai." Masako said next. I smiled at her, but not as cheerfully. "Hey Masako."

"Excuse me, but if we are all done messing around, perhaps we can go inside and start doing some actual work." Naru said in a commanding voice. Monk and Ayako stopped bickering, but gave each other nasty glares.

When we walked inside, Toshi and Mr Endo were waiting for us. "Hello, I'm glad you had a safe trip." Toshi said with a bow. Introductions were made and the case was explained to the others in full. It was silent for a few moments as everyone seemed to take in the situation. The silence was broken, however, when a new person walked in from what looked to be a staff room. It was an older woman, about the same age as Mr Endo, her greying hair was tied up into a bun and she had old tired brown eyes that held little cheer. Mr Endo's eyes lit up when he saw her, though, and hers did the same.

"Everyone, I would like you to meet my wife, Emi." Everyone bowed and Emi did the same.

"It's nice to meet you all." She said, her voice was shaky from old age.

"If we may, we'd like to go ahead and set up base so that we can get started as soon as possible." Naru said, being his all-about-business self.

Mr. Endo nodded. "Of course!" He said. "Come, your room is set up this way." He began ushering us up the stairs and Tochi followed us. The inn was only two stories, but it was long so I'm sure it still held many rooms.

We stopped at a room that seemed to be almost isolated from all the others. Near the door there was a small golden plaque on the wall that was engraved with the words _**Kotone's Room**_.

Tochi seemed to notice me staring. "I had the plaque engraved and put there." He informed me with a sad smile. "It was the least I could do to honor Kotone's memory." I smiled up at him, you could tell he had really cared for Kotone, he still cared even all these years later.

"It doesn't say the Kochi's room." Naru stated blankly. Tochi looked over at him. "Excuse me?" He asked.

"This room belonged to the Kochi family, not just Kotone. Why is the family name not on the plaque?"

Tochi looked at the ground. "I didn't think the last name of a murderer should be remembered." He muttered, he had hate in his voice.

I could tell Naru was about to point out that Kotone also had that last name, but I interrupted him before he could.

"Let's go inside." I said with a forced smile. Mr Endo nodded, seemingly not wanting his son to get into an argument, and opened the door.

The room was surprisingly very nice, it was way bigger than my apartment. It had a living room with two tables;one small table and a larger table, on top of the small table there was a tray of tea and a tea pot, and lastly there were a few chairs set around the room. 'Oh, Naru's gonna love that.' I thought to my self. To the right there were two doors that I guessed lead to connecting bedrooms.

"This is one of our larger rooms." Mr Endo said. "There is a restroom two doors down if you need it, down stairs there is a kitchen that is open to all our guests, and only about three doors down from the kitchen are two bathing rooms." He explained. "If you need anything at all please don't hesitate to call me, my wife or my son for help."

"Thank you for your hospitality." Naru told him. "We will begin setting up base immediately." Mr Endo bowed and left, but Tochi stayed. "I will help you bring up your supplies." He said with a gentle smile that reminded me of John.

"Thank you for your offer, but we can handle it." Naru said.

"Please, I will feel useless if I don't help you in some way." Tochi pressed. It felt like Tochi was trying to make it up to Naru for being cold earlier.

Naru sighed. "Very well." He said. Lin, Naru, Monk, John and Tochi started walking downstairs towards the van to get all the monitors and stuff, leaving me, Masako and Ayako alone.

I turned to Masako and for the first time noticed that she looked like she was about to cry.

"Masako, what's wrong?" I asked, the sleeve of her blue kimono was pressed up against her mouth.

"There is a presence in this room..." She said, her voice wavered. I walked over and put my arm around her.

"Is it Kotone?" It was Ayako who asked, she had bent down to look at both of us.

Masako stared intently at the, floor. "I'm not sure, but... They are very sad." She said. "They are also happy, though, to finally have help." She added quickly. "I can't be absolutely sure, but I do believe it is the spirit of Kotone."

"It has to be her." Ayako chimed in again. "Who else could it be? Honestly Masako sometimes I think you are losing your touch." I glared up at Ayako. 'How could she say that?'

Masako ignored her. "It is a little girl." She said finally. "But she's scared. She won't let me see her." This confused me, but then again I wasn't entirely sure how being a medium works, so I didn't press her for answers.

Suddenly, Masako leaned forward and I had to pull her back to keep her from falling.

"What's wrong?!" I asked, a slight panic in my voice. Masako kept her kimono sleeve pressed to her mouth. "I do not feel good." Ayako helped me get her safely to a chair and I poured her some of the tea from the pot on the table. She drank it slowly and didn't say anything more.

It was then that the boys, except Tochi returned, each one had some form of equipment in his arms.

"Masako what's wrong?" John asked with his always caring tone. He put down his equipment near the wall before running over to us. "Did she faint? She looks so pale." He continued in a worried voice. "I am fine." She answered.

Once everyone else had put down there equipment they came over too.

"Do you feel a spirit?" Naru asked in his always serious way. Lin already had his laptop out, ready o take notes. Masako nodded and repeated everything that had happened while they were out. "I still feel her sadness." She murmured.

Suddenly Tochi entered the room carrying a camera and a few microphones, at the same time he entered Masako let out a small gasp.

"Sorry it took me so long! I had to help my mom with something." When he set down the equipment he looked at where everyone was crowding in one spot. "What's wrong?" He asked, you could tell he was very confused.

"The sad presence... It's gone." Masako said suddenly.

Tochi raised one eyebrow. "Huh?"

Naru looked at him and went into a sort of 'thinking mode'. "Our medium, Ms Harra, was feeling a very sad presence. However, when you walked into the room, it disappeared." The room went quiet except for the sound of Lin typing.

Tochi looked at us all with a sad expression. "I told you, when we were at your office, that Kotone and I were best friends. We used to play in this room all the time." He sighed. "People always say that when they come in here they feel extreme sadness, that they feel lonely. But whenever I walk in here, all I feel is Kotone smiling." Again, all you could hear was typing.

"It seems you being in this room interferes with our investigation." Naru said blankly. "I'm afraid that I'm going to have to ask you to leave this room until we are finished."

I wanted to argue with Naru, I wanted to say it wasn't fair because all Tochi wanted to do was help. But he was right, Tochi might make the investigation take longer.

Tochi nodded. "No problem. I will do anything if it means that Kotone will finally find peace." He said. "If you need anything, my room is downstairs not to far from the staff room." He bowed before turning to leave.

"Actually." Naru began, stopping Tochi in his tracks. "If you could make a list of rooms that have the most activity, that would be helpful. Please ask you're parents to put in their opinions as well."

"Of course." Tochi said before going downstairs.

Naru turned to us and began rattling off orders. "Monk, help Lin set up all the monitors and get ready to connect them to the cameras and microphones." Monk and Lin nodded and got to work setting up the monitors on the larger table that rested against the back wall. "John, you and I will go downstairs with the Endo's to get the list of active rooms and see about interviewing possible victims of this haunting, though I'm sure they will be unavailable since this is an inn people stay at when they travel." John nodded and went over by the door to wait for his boss. Finally Naru turned to us girls. "Ms Hara I want you and Ms Matsuzaki to do a walk through and see which rooms have the most activity in your opinion, we will later compare it with the list of rooms we get from the Endo's." I waited until he finally looked at me. "Mai, go with them and take temperature readings." We all nodded and hurried off to do our assigned jobs.

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((I might try to get another chapter up tonight. It all depends on how fast I can type. Anyway, please review! It is greatly appreciated.))


	3. Chapter 3

_It was beautiful..._

_But... I can't remember..._

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Mai's POV

All three of us were quiet as we went and checked the rooms in the inn. Well, we didn't check _all_ the inn rooms, a few of them were occupied. We only checked significant ones; like the downstairs 'community room', which was basically like a living room that was free for all guests to commune in. The play room, which, according to Tochi, was a room downstairs that was originally a vacant room that he and Kotone would take all there toys to and play in. But now, it was a sort of day care for when parents had to go to town and couldn't take their children with them. We also checked the entrance hall, because apparently Tochi said that he and Kotone would sometimes stay down there to greet the all had normal temperatures, but each room we went in Masako said the same thing; "The sad presence is here."

We were about to go upstairs and back to base, since there didn't seem to be anywhere else to check, when Tochi came out of the staff room.

"Hey Mai." He said walking up to me. Ayako and Masako stopped by the stairs to wait for me. I smiled. "Hey Tochi."

Tochi looked over at Ayako and Masako. "Sorry, I won't keep you long. I just wanted to know if you've had any luck, or needed any help." He said and scratched the back of his neck.

I shook my head. "No, we're just about done for right now, just waiting for the list of the rooms you think are being haunted." When I said this he quickly reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. "I almost forgot to give it to you, sorry!" He said sheepishly. "Oh and your boss and father brown are in there talking to my parents." I took the piece of paper when he handed to me.

"Well I'll leave leave you to it!" Tochi smiled and went off down the hallway.

Ayako and Masako came over to look over the list with me. "Looks like we've covered all of them on the list... Except the upstairs middle hallway." I said.

"Well lets hurry up and get it over with." Ayako mumbled and headed up the stairs with me and Masako following her.

The way that the upstairs is set up is in a sort of 'T' formation. There is a long hallway with rooms on either side, at the bottom of the hallway there were the stairs that led down, at the top of the hallway it branched out to the left and right, with rooms along those hallways as well. The base was at the top and was the second door on the left side.

We walked to the middle of the hallway and I set the thermometer down so it could take the hallway's temperature reading.

"I am suddenly very tired." Masako stated, again bringing her kimono sleeve up to her mouth. I walked over to her. "Do you need to sit down?" I asked her. She shook her head yes and Ayako and I helped he sit down.

"Ayako, take her to base, I'll finish up here." I said, referring to the temperature readings. Ayako shook her head. "No Mai. Every time we leave you alone on a case, you pass out or are attacked by ghosts." She said truthfully.

I rolled my eyes. "Look, I'll be fine. It won't take that long, plus base is just around the corner." I true to assure her. Ayako put her thinking face on before sighing. "Fine." She said with a frown. "But as soon as you're done come straight to base!" I grinned. "You got it." And with that Ayako took Masako back to base.

I stood there, patiently waiting for the thermometer, when suddenly it dropped from 22 degrees Celsius, to 19.

"Oh no." I muttered. "We haven't even been here twenty four hours!" My vision started to blur and I steadied myself against the wall. "If I pass out, Ayako and Monk will never let me be alone."

But I didn't pass out, my vision returned back to normal and everything seemed to be fine.

"Oh... Cool." I said, happy nothing had happened, and reached down to pick up the thermometer. But before I could, a beautiful voice stopped me.

_Daddy, I wanna go play..._

I looked up and saw a small girl. She couldn't have been more than eight, she had had long dark brown hair and she was wearing what looked like a large black T-shirt and a blue skirt. I couldn't see her face, because she was turned around and walking away from me. She was holding someone's hand, it looked to be a tallish man, wearing... A gray suit and pants... I couldn't see his face either, but the back of his head was just a shadowy mass. They were holding hands and walking up the hallway.

_You can in a minute honey, I want to show you something_

I wasn't sure why, but I felt the need to follow them, so I dropped the clipboard and did just that.

They turned the left corner and opened up the second door. 'Thats the base!' I thought as I followed them. But when I looked at the room, it didn't look the same. The monitors on the far back table were gone and replaced with lots and lots of flowers. All the equipment was gone and none of my friends were there. 'Thats strange. I could've sworn I heard Ayako say something... But she's not here.'

Suddenly, the little girl was gone. No, wait, I _was_ the little girl.

I looked up at the man holding my hand, but he didn't have a face, just a dark mass in the shape of a head. I looked at his hand, again it was a shadowy mass in the shape of a hand. But I wasn't afraid, in fact, I felt comforted.

"What do you to show me?" I asked my dad. He looked back down at me and chuckled.

"This way." He led me to the balcony. We passed by the table of flowers and I could barely take my eyes off of them. "Out here Kotone." He opened the sliding door to the balcony and I followed my father onto it.

"Look." He stretched his arm out and pointed forward. My eyes followed his hand and I found myself looking at the lake. It was beautiful, the way the sunlight shined over and reflected off the water.

"Here." My father said, picked me up by the waist and sat me down on the balcony railing. I shrieked in surprise and held onto his arm. Again, he chuckled. "Don't worry Kotone. I won't let go." He said, his hands held onto my waist to keep me from falling. The view was far better up here.

"Look daddy!" I exclaimed. I pointed to the center of the lake where a few fish were jumping out of the water, the sun glistened off their scales. My dad nodded and gave me a smile. "Its beautiful." He told me. I looked up at him with a wide grin. "Thank you for showing me, daddy."

We sat there for a few more moments, just taking in the view. But the serene moment was broken by muffled voiced.

_"M...!"_

_"Ge...wn!"_

I looked to my father, confused. But his shadowy head just kept on staring at the lake, like he didn't even hear them.

Out of nowhere, everything disappeared. It was like a sudden wind blew it all away the only thing that stayed the same was the lake.

"Mai!"

"Mai get down from there!"

"Huh?" The world suddenly came back into focus. "Where am I?" I looked down and saw that I was two stories off the ground right above the edge of the lake. I was sitting on a thin metal railing, and there were no hands to keep me from falling. I couldn't help but yell out in surprise. My arms flailed around, but that only made me unbalance and I found my self falling forward.

Luckily, strong arms wrapped around me and pulled me off the balcony and back into the room.

My eyes opened, and I looked up to see my savior. Of course it was Monk. Ayako and Masako quickly appeared at my side, while Lin went downstairs, probably to get Naru and John.

As soon as Monk released me from his arms, Ayako put her hands on my shoulder and forced me to face her. "Mai, are you ok?!" She asked me frantically. I nodded yes.

Ayako's face showed relief, but that was quickly replaced with anger and she shook my shoulders violently. "What is wrong with you?!" She asked me.

"What?!" I asked, finally recovering. "What did I do?" Monk raised an eyebrow at me. "You don't remember?" He asked. I looked down.

"I remember, but I don't remember what _I_ did." This just confused everyone. "I...I think.." I didn't even know what to think.

"Kotone showed you her memories." Masako piped up and suddenly everyone was staring at her.

"Well, she showed you her memories, then you acted them out."

Monk looked back at me. "You walked in here, Ayako said something about you getting back here quickly. You ignored her, walked to balcony and stood there for a while." He explained. "We all thought it was weird, and thought maybe Lin knew what was going on. He said that he didn't and wen we looked back you were sitting on the railing. You were just smiling and talking to no one. I tried to get you to come down but you ignored me. When I tried to go out to the balcony there was an... Energy blocking me."

I sighed. 'Why does this only happen to me?'

"What did you see, Mai?" We all looked over to see Naru, John and Lin standing in the doorway. It was Naru who had asked the question.

I sighed and repeated everything I had seen. 'Why am I so tired now?'

"Masako says Kotone had Mai reenact her memories." Monk finished for me.

I watched as Naru put on his thinking face, Lin went to type every thing down, and John came to my side.

"Mai what's wrong now?" He asked in his soft caring tone.

"Nothing." I said, trying to reassure them all. "Just a bit tired. I think I'll go rest." John helped me up. "Thanks, I can go from here."

"Ms Matsuzaki, please help Mai." Naru said without looking away from Lin's laptop screen. Ayako nodded and came forward to help me but I shook my head. "Really, I'm fine." I said again. "You guys just go ahead and figure stuff out. The room is right here." I gestured the door that connected to the girl's bedroom.

"At least let me roll out your futon." Ayako pressed. I shook my head. "I am perfectly fine just tired." Ayako reluctantly backed off and I slowly walked to towards the door. I only took three steps.

"Hey Ayako." I said dizzily. She stepped forward. "Yeah Mai?"

"I... I might..." I was trying to tell her that I might actually need some help after all, but I blacked out before I got the chance.

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((so apparently I'm not a fast enough typer to get two chapters out in one day. Oh well. I made sure we had some ghostie action in this one. Hope you enjoyed. Please review, they are greatly appreciated.


	4. Chapter 4

_Help..._

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_I was laying in bed, I feel really tired. My dad is kneeling beside me, waiting for me to go to sleep. _

_"Daddy, will you read me a story?" _

_"Not tonight sweet heart."_

_I don't know why, but daddy sounds like he's going to cry. _

_"What's wrong daddy?" _

_"I just miss your mother. But don't worry, we'll both see her soon." _

_I didn't understand, I thought mommy had died... I tried to ask daddy, but I was so tired I only buried myself deeper into the blankets. _

_Daddy had wrapped me up in a bunch of covers, they're so warm. Earlier he also gave me a bunch of pills, he said they would help me sleep better. _

_Pretty soon I could barely hold my eyes open. Daddy picked me up in all my blankets, then carried me towards the balcony. I can't see his face because its too dark, but I can tell he's crying. _

_When we were out out on the balcony, I looked up at the stars. Daddy kept walking until we were at the railing. Now I was crying too, but I didn't know why. Daddy was just making me feel really sad. _

_We both looked out at the lake, and stayed like that for a long time. Suddenly daddy kissed my forehead and said, "I love you Kotone." Then, I was falling, the last thing I could see was Daddy's shadow looking down at me. _

_I landed in the water, and I could feel my self sinking. I knew how to swim, but all the blankets were weighing me down and even though I tried to get out of them, they were wrapped too tightly around me. Water filled my mouth when I tried to call for help and I was forced to swallow it. _

_I was so tired... I closed my eyes and went to sleep.._.

Mai's POV

I opened my eyes and sat up really fast, gasping for breath. That was a really bad dream. 'Or was that Kotone's memories...'

"That's how she died..." I said with realization. 'That was horrible. Her own dad betrayed her trust...'

I suddenly became aware of my dark surroundings and the two cots beside me had people in them. 'Ayako and Masako are asleep... Did I sleep through the rest of the day?'

I got up, careful to not wake up the other two, and opened the sliding door that led to the living room. I was still in the clothes I had worn from the day before, and I felt a bit grimy from not taking a bath. No doubt the baths would be closed by now...

For some reason I felt the need to go to the balcony, so I silently made my way over and slid open the door, then slid it shut as I stepped outside.

The outside air was cool and refreshing, my bare feet also felt good against the cold wood balcony. I crossed my arms on the railing and stared out over the lake. 'This is one of the last things Kotone saw before she died...'

I jolted slightly when I heard the sliding door open again.

"Easy Mai, it's just me." I relaxed, hearing Monk's calming voice. I turned around and gave him a smile.

"Why are you up so late?" He asked and walked over to stand next to me.

I sighed turned back around to look at the lake again. "I saw how she died." Monk only made a 'hmm' sound in response.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" I thought for a minute before nodding. We talked for a while, I told him about my dream and he listened, occasionally asking me a few questions. "I just don't understand how her dad could do that to her. She loved him so much." I felt tears come to my eyes as I said this. They stopped though, when Monk wrapped his arm around my shoulder. Silence set in as we stood there, just watching the moonlight shimmer on the lake's surface.

"You should go back to sleep." Monk said after a while. "We're going to have to get back up in a few hours, might as well get as much rest in as we can." He was right. "Ok." I told him and turned back towards the door. My toe hit something and I ended up falling onto the wood balcony.

"Ow..." I grumbled. Monk laughed. "Nice job."

"Shut up." I tried to get back up again but he picked me up like you would a child. "Gosh, Mai. You're getting heavy." He said as opened the sliding door.

"Are you calling me fat?" I growled quietly as not to wake anyone up. He chuckled quietly as he slid open the door to the girls room. "Of course not, just chubby." He whispered. I punched him in the shoulder and smirked when he gave a silent yelp.

Monk quietly sat me down on my futon before heading back to the door. "Night Mai." He whispered. "Night." I whispered back then laid back as he left.

_'Where am I?' I wondered. Looking to the right, I could see the Endo inn, and looking to the left I could see the lake. 'When did I get out side?' I couldn't even remember waking up. _

_All thoughts were pushed away though, when I heard splashing in the lake. I searched the water until I saw a frightening sight; someone seemed to be struggling to stay above the water, their arms and legs were flailing as they tried to resurface. _

_"Hold on!" I yelled as I ran over to the lake shore. I took off my shoes, not wanting them to slow me down, then jumped in the water. _

_As I got closer I could see that whoever it was had long dark brown hair and were wrapped up in a bunch of blankets. They seemed to see me, because they held out their hand when I got close. _

_I reached for the small hand and right before our fingers even touched, a light manifested in between us, when my hand grabbed theirs the light got brighter and brighter until my vision was blinded and all I could see was white. The only thing I heard was the water splashing and a small, almost melodic, voice. _

_Help..._

3rd person POV

Ayako was the first to wake up. She yawned as she slowly sat up from the futon she had been sleeping in. Ayako looked over at Masako, who was still asleep. "Hmm. Not as annoying when she's asleep." She muttered to herself with a smirk. She then looked to the other side, wanting to see if Mai was asleep, and was slightly surprised to find her futon empty. 'Must have gotten up early.' She thought to herself.

Ayako got up to her feet, stretched, then changed into her day clothes knowing that Masako would probably sleep for a bit longer.

She left the room and was confused to find the main room empty and Mai not there. Ayako shrugged it off, merely thinking that Mai had gone off to the restroom or to catch an early morning bath.

Ayako sighed and walked over to inspect the monitors, just to make sure everything was normal. They had set up cameras and mics in the playroom, on the balcony, in the entrance hall, in the community room and one in the main room of the base (the the room she was in now) since it was where the Kochi's had lived. They had all been set up while Mai was sleeping, because Naru had said it was ridiculous for them to stop all work just because Mai had passed out. Nothing on any of the monitors seemed out of the ordinary so Ayako sat in a chair and waited for the others to wake up.

Ayako was surprised to see that Masako was the next one up. She entered the room wearing a red kimono.

"Good morning." Masako greeted her. "Morning." Ayako responded.

"Wear is Mai?" Masako asked. The woman shrugged. "Not sure. Probably in the restroom or bathroom." A few moments of silence passed before Ayako broke it again. "Do you want to go get some tea and see if she's downstairs?" The short medium nodded yes and the two went downstairs with Ayako caring the tray with the tea, teapot, and cups.

When they reached the kitchen, which wasn't far from the entrance hall, they ran into Tochi.

"Oh, good morning." The brown eyed boy greeted them. "Good morning." They both said back.

"Tochi, you haven't seen Mai today, have you?" Ayako asked. Tochi shook his head. "Sorry." He said apologetically. "Can't say that I have. I'll keep an eye out and tell you if I do though."

"Thank you." Ayako told him as he went back to the front desk. The girls continued to make tea, making sure there was a cup for every person. "Masako, while the tea brews, go see if Mai is in the bathing room." She told her. Masako nodded and did as she was told. Not long after the tea was finished Masako came back, reporting that she had not seen Mai. "That's strange.." Ayako muttered.

The pair made their way back to base and frowned when they saw that Mai was not there and that the others still hadn't woken up. Ayako sat the tray on the small table before taking a seat. "You know, I thought, at the least, that Naru would be up before us." She told Masako. The short haired girl nodded in agreement.

When Ayako finished her tea she rose to her feet. "Ok. I'm going to wake them up. We need to get on with the investigation and we need to find Mai." She said as she walked over to the door.

"Make sure you knock first." Masako warned her. Ayako waved her hand. "Yeah yeah." She said as she knocked on the door. When there was no answer she slid it open anyway.

"Come on guys, time to wake- Monk!" Ayako shouted. It was a shout loud enough to both wake everyone up and to make Masako walk over to see what was wrong. When Masako saw what Ayako had shouted about she put her kimono sleeve over her mouth. "Oh my..."

The boys all woke up with a jolt. "What?! What happened?!" Monk sat up quickly. He felt a weight holding on to him and when he looked down to inspect it he was shocked. "What the heck?!"

Naru, Lin and John hurried over to see what was wrong and they all were equally surprised, even Naru couldn't help but widen his eyes.

Mai lied sleeping next to Monk and her arms were wrapped tightly around his stomach, her head was against his chest.

It was silent for a few moments; John looked away with a light blush on his face, Masako did the same with her kimono sleeve covering her mouth and cheeks, Lin and Naru seemed to be communicating just by looking at each other, Ayako had shifted from shocked to anger whithen a second, and Monk just sat there not knowing what to do.

"...I have no idea how she got there." Monk said finally.

"You perverted little monk..." Ayako growled. "What do you mean you don't know how she got there?!"

Monk threw his hands up in the air. "I don't know! You woke me up and suddenly she's there!" He said defensively.

Ayako was about to yell back (or hit him), when Masako held up her hand. "Wait." She said before Ayako could say a word.

Slowly, Masako walked over to where Mai still had her arms wrapped around Monk and bent down next to her.

"Wake up." She said softly and gently shook her shoulder.

Mai's eyes slowly fluttered open and she looked over at Masako. The brown haired girl gasped in surprise and quickly got up but held a tight grasp on Monk's arm. "Daddy, who is that?" She asked, looking at Monk.

Everyone gasped, except Naru and Lin. Lin was smirking at Monk and though he didn't do it outloud, Lin was laughing inside at the man.

* * *

(I was worried I wouldn't get this done in time. If you don't know why Lin is smirking at Monk, it's a reference to the case where Kenji possessed Mai and thought Lin was her dad. ((Lin hated it and Monk kept laughing at him.)) Oh and I hadn't meant for this to happen at first, but I found myself writing it anyway. Trust me Im not copying Silent Christmas. Anyway please review! Shall hopefully post a chapter again tomorrow.))


	5. Chapter 5

_Please..._

_Not yet..._

* * *

Everyone was now in the main room; Ayako, John and Masako were talking quietly at the table, Naru sipped his tea while deep in thought, Lin typed quickly on his laptop while at the same time tried to go over all the video and audio from the mic and cameras, and Monk and and Mai (or Kotone) sat by the door and played 'pass' with a rubber bouncy ball.

"It seems that Kotone has gone pass the point of making Mai reenact and live out her memories, and instead has decided to possess her instead." John said quietly.

"That's plainly obvious." Ayako muttered.

"I don't understand." Masako said. "When we first arrived here yesterday, Kotone's spirit was very scared and shy, then in the middle of the night she possess Mai. Kotone didn't even wait twenty four hours."

"Monk, you said you talked to Mai last night." Naru said blankly.

Monk looked over from the 'pass' game he was playing. "Yeah. He said she saw how Kotone had-" Monk cut himself off when he remembered 'Kotone' was standing near.

"Hold on a minute." Monk told her with a smile before walking over to Naru. "She said she saw how Kotone died." He said in a quieter tone. "It should all be on the balcony camera." At that moment Mai came over and pulled Monk back, wanting to play with him some more. Naru looked over at Lin, meaning of him to pull up the footage.

"Got it." Lin said, everyone (except Monk and Mai) crowded around the monitors. They watched as Mai showed up on the screen, not long after Monk appeared. They all listened to Mai describe her dream, then watched as Monk carried her off the balcony.

"Why did you carry her?" Ayako asked Monk from across the room. "Didn't you see her fall? I figured she was so tired that she was tripping her own feet!" Monk answered back.

Lin switched to the camera that covered the main room of the base and watched as Monk carried her into the Girl's room, then exited the room and went back to his futon. They all watched intently, waiting for Mai to reappear and walk into the boys room. But Mai didn't reappear. Instead, the camera went to static and a soft musical voice said; "No peeking." Everyone gasped and looked over at the possessed Mai.

"Daddy!" She suddenly whined. "I'm hungry! Can we go down stairs?" She was already pulling Monk towards the door. He looked over at Naru, wondering if he should go. Naru sighed.

"John, Ms Matsuzaki and Ms Hara please accompany them." He sad in an annoyed tone. The three followed Mai and Monk, but Naru grabbed John's arm. "What is it?" John asked in concern.

"I want you to run ahead and make sure Tochi is out of the house. We don't need Mai seeing him right now." John nodded remembering that if someone was possessed, they would stay possessed longer if they saw Tochi.

They all began walking down the stairs, except for John who ran. Mai looked at the two girls that were following her and her 'dad'.

"Who are you." She asked in timid yet strong tone. They reached the bottom of the stairs.

"My name's Ayako." The taller woman said with a smile.

"My name is Masako." The shorter girl said.

"We're friends with your dad." Ayako said next. Mai looked from the two girls ten back to her dad. She motioned for him to bend down. "They're pretty daddy." She whispered loudly with a smile. Monk chuckled as the other girls blushed. "Come on, lets go to the kitchen and get you something to eat."

John ran into the entrance hall, his eyes searched for Tochi, but they settled on Mr. Endo and he hurried over to him.

"Oh hello there, Father Brown." The chubby man said. "Why are you in such a hurry?"

John stood for a minute, catching his breath. "It seems we have a little bit of a problem." John told the man. "One of my boss's assistants has been possessed by Kotone." At this, Mr. Endo frowned. "I'm terribly sorry." He said. John waved the apology aside with a smile. "Don't be, it isn't your fault. But I must ask you, where is Tochi?" Mr. Endo's brow furrowed in thought. "He said he was going out to pick up new tows for the play room, a few have been there for a long time and are falling apart." John nodded. "Good. Please be sure to tell him what has happened when he gets back." With that John quickly went to the kitchen.

Naru sat at the small table, reviewing the notes from his notebook. "Why did she choose now?" He murmured to himself. Lin looked over at him. "What do you mean?" He asked.

"Kotone had all day yesterday to possess Mai. Why did she wait? And why did she choose Monk? Tochi said that Kotone would possess girls and then have them fall asleep next to an older male. We're all older than Mai, so why did she choose Monk?" Naru answered with questions. A sudden thought popped into his mind.

"Lin, play the footage." He said and walked over to the monitors. Lin nodded and pulled it up. The two watched it up until the point where monk disappeared with Mai into the girls' room. "Go ahead and pause it." Naru said, Lin obeyed.

"It would be safe to say that Mai thinks of Monk as a father figure, yes?" Naru asked. Lin nodded. "When Monk carried her to the girls room, he did it because he thought my was to tired to walk. That is considered a fatherly action right?" Again, Lin nodded.

"That's why. Kotone must've thought that Monk was Mai's father. That's why she chose Monk."

"Or maybe Monk looks like Kotone's father." Lin offered, remembering the last time Mai had been possessed by a child. Naru nodded, his finger pressed against his chin. "We should go ask the Endo's about this." With that the two went downstairs.

When they reached the first floor, Naru and Lin walked by the kitchen on their way to the entrance hall. Naru quickly glanced inside to see everyone was there, laughing and smiling. Naru ignored this and continued towards the front of the building.

"Mr and Ms Endo." Naru said, seeing them both at the front desk. The elderly couple smiled at the boy. "Hello there." Emi said in her shaky voice.

"John brown told you about the situation, yes?" He asked. They both nodded.

"The person that Kotone thinks is her father, Monk, does he bare any resemblance to Kotone's real father?"

The elderly couple thought for a moment before shaking their heads no. "I don't think he does." Emi said to him. "I have a picture of all the Kochi's around here somewhere. I'll look for it, but it may take a while for me to find it." Naru nodded.

"In the pass, have any of the men Kotone believed to be her father bare any resemblance to him?" Again the elderly couple thought. "Come to think of it, no they haven't." Naru thought for a moment before looking back at the couple. "Thank you for answering my questions."

The black clad boy was about to walk away before Mai ran into the room, laughing with child like joy.

"Mai- er, Kotone! Slow down!" Monk called not to far behind her. Everybody else also hallowed closely behind Monk. Mai just kept laughing and ran into the play room, Monk and Ayako followed her. Masako and John stopped by Naru.

At this sight, the elderly couple laughed. "Kotone was such a fun loving child." Emi said brightly. "All she ever wanted to do was play and make others smile."

"It doesn't seem like much has changed with her." John said. Naru pulled John to the side, while Lin and Masako continued to talk to the Endo's.

"Do you think you could preform an exorcism on Kotone now?" He asked in a serious tone. John thought for a moment. "I could, but I'm not sure what would happen. According to the Endo's, Kotone has never been exercised from anyone before and has always left peacefully." John said. "Why don't we just wait until the end of the day for Kotone to leave Mai on her own?" Naru thought about this. "I want you to preform one anyway, I'd like to see how she reacts." John nodded. "Ok." He said before going upstairs to get his priest robes.

Naru walked to the playroom, a few moments later Lin and and Masako were walking by his side. When the three reached the playroom they found Ayako and Monk playing blocks with Mai. Naru informed them both, quietly so that Mai wouldn't hear, that they were going to preform an exorcism.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Ayako asked. "Kotone has never been exercised before, we don't know what will happen." Naru nodded. "Exactly. I want to see how Kotone reacts."

A few moments later John appeared in the room in his priest robes and with his bible. "I'm ready."

The room was dark, the window had been covered, the lights turned off and the door closed. Everyone stood against the wall, except Mai, who was against the book shelf, and Monk, who had her hand tightly. John stood in front of them, his bible open and ready to be read. He walked forward and drew a grey cross on her forehead, then stepped back.

"Our father, who art in heaven, hallow be thy name..."

Mai looked from Monk, to John. _No..._

"Our kingdom come, I will be done..."

She began shaking her head, _No! Not yet!_

"On earth, as it is in Heaven..."

Quickly, Mai ripped her hand from Monk's. "No!" Everyone gasped.

"John keep going." Naru ordered. John was about to continue, but she interrupted him again.

"No! I still can't remember!" She cried. Monk tried to grasp her hand but she ran out the door, tears filled her eyes. _She said she would help me..._

"Kotone, wait!" Monk called after her. Mai ignored him and ran trough the entrance hall. She didn't get very far, though, because he ran into someone. When she looked up to see who it was, she smiled. "Tochi!"

Tochi smiled. "Oh hey Mai. I think your friends are looking for y-" he stopped talking when she wrapped him in a hug. "Tochi, they won't help me... She said she would help!" She cried, her tears stained his grey shirt. "What?" He asked, very confused.

It was then that everyone else piled out of the play room and into the entrance hall. Tochi looked from Mai to the group of people, he put two and two together. "Kotone?" He asked, looking down at her. Mai nodded and hid behind him.

"What were you doing to her?" He asked Naru. "We were trying to exercise her." He answered back blankly. Tochi looked to John. "Did it hurt her?" A slight tone of anger entered his voice. John shook his head. "No."

Tochi looked back down at the scared girl behind him and bent down next to her. "Kotone.. They are trying to help." He said gently. She shook her head rapidly. "No they're not! They just want me to go away!" She said, now sobbing. "I can't leave yet... I still can't remember..." She coughed.

Tochi hugged her. "You can't remember what?" He asked trying to get some answers. Mai just kept sobbing and saying, "I need to remember, I need to forgive. "

Ayako looked to Masako. "What is she talking about?" She asked. Masako shook her head. "I don't know." She said saidly.

Naru walked over to the sobbing Mai, who still tightly hugged Tochi. "Kotone." He said softly. The girl looked up at him. "We want to help. But to do that we need to know what you're talking about." The girl wiped away her tears and studied his face.

"I forgive him..." She said softly before looking at Tochi. "You need to forgive him Tochi. We... We both have to remember." Tochi looked at Mai's eyes. "Remember what?" He asked, begging for an answer. "Kotone I don't know what you're talking about, tell me." He felt tears coming to his own eyes. He was desperate to know what she was talking about.

She hugged him once again. "We need to remember, you need to forgive." Tochi hugged the girl tighter, a tear roll down his cheek. "I can't remember Kotone... I can't."

Mai's body went limp in his arms as the spirit left her body. John came over and inspected her.

"Is she gone?" Monk finally spoke up. John looked back at him. "Mai is no longer possessed." He announced to everyone.

"Kotone is still here." Masako said quietly. "She has left Mai, but she still hasn't left the inn."

* * *

((Yay, another chapter. This may or may not have been rushed, so don't judge it's quality. Anyway, please leave a review, it helps me out a lot.))


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